The pale yearling stood there breathing heavily from the exertion of his reveal and the terror of the words that would leave her lips next. It seemed like he was stuck in a giant waiting game, hovering in limbo waiting to see if his life would become hell or perhaps return to some version of his new normal. He hoped, with every fiber of his being, for the latter but he knew there wasn’t a huge chance. There was never a huge chance of something good happening in his life, the last good thing that had happened to him was standing right in front of him and he was staring a possible goodbye to that literally in the face.

“K…Kino..” she started off, and for a second he wasn’t sure how to react to it. It had been many months since anyone had called him by his true name, and as he mulled it over he decided he didn’t like it coming from her. Kino wasn’t the one he wanted to be, he had always wanted to be Alastor from the moment he’d decided on the name. To be unbroken, unbruised, to be free of the horrible memories that plagued him, that would be the ultimate dream and his alter ego had none of those. He listened, silently, as she spoke, warmth returning to his limbs once again. He felt like he was thrumming, vibrating with the europium that he felt. She was…she was accepting him. Accepting his lie, and accepting his past. Sahalie, as usual, surprised him to no end. When she’d finished, he stood there for a moment, trying to collect his wits, trying to reign in the emotions that were colliding within him.

Slowly the boy moved forward, head cast down avoiding her gaze until he was right over the top of her. Long forelegs poised on either side of her body and he sat, curling his neck around to the back of hers and pulling her tightly to his chest in a hug. With her tucked firmly against him, assured, at least hoped, that his face was shielded from her view, he finally allowed a few raw tears to escape him. Kino hadn’t cried when his mother had died, hadn’t been able to mourn like that as emotionally stunted as he was. But, his friend’s acceptance had caused an explosion in his wall, crumbling its thick layer of brick and mortar into ruble and allowed her to step right on through. “I want to be Alastor. Just…call me Alastor.” he mumbled into her shoulder. The battle that he had had with his inner self was, for the moment, resolved, but a new one was quickly taking its place. The powerful humming in his body that came with just being in contact like this with her, the wonderful problem that it was. The realization he’d had couldn’t be shared yet, perhaps not ever. This one wasn’t a lie, it was just simply something he wasn’t saying and they weren’t the same things right? But, for the moment he was content to hold her against him.